Longarm Machine Pricing - Is it Consistent?
 

Is longarm machine pricing (for new machines) fairly consistent from dealer to dealer, or do dealers tend to have a lot of "wiggle" room and therefore one may be significantly lower than another?

My husband and I are thinking of purchasing a longarm and have seen that some of the financial things we need to consider are what extras the dealer is willing to throw in, whether we'd have to pay sales tax (many of the dealers we're looking at would be out of state), and possible financing terms vs. paying in full. Is there anything else to consider?

All this is of course in addition to the specifics of the machine itself, as well as the customer service available.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Debbie

I believe that you will owe the sales tax for your area (or a use tax in its stead) no matter where you purchase the longarm. Sales tax depends on the state where the item is delivered, not the state in which it is sold. Even if you take delivery in another state and transport the item to your home, you still owe the tax. For instance I purchased my longarm in Washington state, but paid no sales tax because I live in Oregon. (No sales tax is one of our best perks.)

I don't believe there's much variation in the price of the Innova, the longarm that I purchased. I can't speak for other brands. The company usually has some sort of package pricing, as well as specials that are available at quilt shows and that are usually also honored by the dealers. When I purchased mine, the dealer had one unit left that was part of a "free lighting" package. Dealers also seem to have different types and qualities of training, which is a very important part of the purchase if you're new to longarming.

We'll definitely check further into the sales tax issue. We went to a show yesterday in another state and were told by one dealer that we wouldn't have to pay sales tax if they delivered the machine to us since it was in a different state. Thanks for your input!!

Hi Deb,

I live in South Alabama; I bought a long arm from a dealer in Mississippi and didn't pay sales tax for my long-arm because it was purchased out-of-state - that was nearly six years ago and I don't believe our state laws have changed since then.

They're correct in that they would not have to collect the tax for their state, however I think that you would still be responsible for paying it for your state. The fact is that tax events like this are most often not reported, and you would probably "get away" without paying it. But if you're going to use your machine as a business, you will want to write the machine off or depreciate it, and not having paid sales tax on it could cause problems eventually.

Oregon has a tax on all equipment that's used in a business. Many states do. If I started longarming professionally, I would have to pay that tax on my longarm - every year. (The tax decreases as the equipment depreciates.) It's not a very big tax, but just another thing to be aware of if you're considering starting a business, even located in your home.

I bought mine in California and had it shipped to where I live in Texas. No sales tax.

A retailer can only charge sales tax if they are shipping to a state where they have a brick & morter physical store. If I bought it in Texas and had it shipped to Texas I would have been charged sales tax.

Until about a year ago, Texas residents were never charged sales tax for purchases on Amazon. While Amazon does not have a store in Texas, they do have a distribution center here. The state of Texas finally made them charge sales tax for purchases made from Texas residents.

If I were to be selling products through Etsy, Texas residents would be the only ones I could charge sales tax to. When I helped my son do his California State Income tax form, it had a place where you were supposed to list every purchase you've made either on line or in another state and pay California sales tax on it.

I think if you buy it out of state you do not have to pay sales tax in your state.

We pay sales tax on everything we purchase on-line except food items. There's a section on our State income tax form where you list everything, then calculte the tax. My husband works at the Dept of Revenue and he tells me we have a greater chance of being audited.

Aside from the tax issue, I purchased my HQ Avante from a dealer and we definitely worked out a deal - I did not pay the full retail price - I think it doesn't hurt to ask and sometimes you can ask for a demo machine (low hours) and get an even better deal.

Agree about asking for a deal. Doesn't hurt to ask. When I got my Bernina 820, I went to the dealer and asked how much if I pay cash. Got a price that was several thousands of dollars less the suggested retail price.